Dhaka, Nov 21 (bdnews24.com) – Prime minister Sheikh Hasina vowed to fast-track the BDR mutiny trial, addressing a special programme in Dhaka Cantonment to mark Arms Forces Day on Saturday. Hasina said, "I promise, if I live, I'll see the trial completed." Over 70 people, 57 of them army officers, were killed in February's bloody mutiny at the BDR's Peelkhana headquarters, including the border force chief Gen Shakil Ahmed. The trial is set to start any day, with the government forming six special courts on Nov 15 to try some 3,500 border guards accused in the mutiny case. However, Bangladesh does not have a good track record of resolving major cases of national significance Regarding Thursday's final resolution of the Bangabandhu murder case, 34 years after the assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and most of his family, she said, "No one who commits a crime is exempt from punishment." "Justice and truth won with this verdict," she added. Hasina vowed all such major cases—including the 1975 Jail Killings of four national leaders, former finance minister Shah AMS Kibria, and Awami League MP Ahsanullah Mastar the Aug 21 2004 grenade attack on an AL rally—would be completed. The prime minister also said her government is eager to continue its efforts to modernise the armed forces. She said she had asked the United Nations, at the recent UN General Assembly in September, to take more peace-keeping troops from Bangladesh. bdnews24.com/al/pks/rah/2119h |